ALEPES VARI - (CUVIER, 1833)
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Carangiformes (Order) > Carangoidei (Suborder) > Carangidae (Family) > Caranginae (Subfamily) > Alepes (Genus)
Sélar harengule, Blackfin scad, Deep-bodied crevalle, Duskyfin crevalle, Herring scad, Trevally scad, Jurel arenque, Mabutashima-aji, マブタシマアジ, 大尾鰺, 范氏副叶鲹, نيزكة مُرَنكة, Cá Khế,
Synonymes
Alepes glabra (Fowler, 1904)
Alepes macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
Carangoides milnensis (Whitley, 1949)
Caranx macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
Caranx vari (Cuvier, 1833)
Selar kuhlii (Bleeker, 1851)
Selar macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 23-27 (usually: 25); Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 20-23 (usually: 22); Pectoral fin rays: 19; Gill rakers: 9-12 + 23-27 = 32-38 (usually: 11-25); Vertebrae: 24. Lateral line strongly arched anteriorally with the junction of the curved and straight sections located the origin of second dorsal to the third soft ray. The curved section contains: 42-50 (usually: 44) scales and 0-2 scutes, while the straight section has: 0-7 scales and 48-69 (usually: 52) scutes. Body profile strongly compressed, ovate body. The ventral and dorsal profiles of the fish are almost evenly convex, joined anteriorally by a pointed snout. There is a well-developed adipose eyelid on the posterior half of the eye. The jaws hold a single row of numerous comb like teeth. Max. length: 56.0 cm TL, common length: 30.0 cm TL. Depth range: 0 - 10 m.
Color
The species is an ash blue above, fading to a silvery white below, with a diffuse dusky blotch on margin of operculum. The fins are dusky with the exception of the spinous dorsal fin which is pale to dark dusky. The amount of dark pigment in the fins is sexually dimorphic, with males developing darker spinous dorsal fin, lobes of soft dorsal and anal fins, and pelvic fins than females.
Etymology
Alepes: from Greek prefix, a-, an- = not, without, (having) no + from Greek, lepis = scale, flake, shell, husk. Referring to Alepes melanoptera, “entirely destitute of scales, except those on the hinder part of the lateral line adjoining the caudal fin”.
vari: from vari-paré, local name for this species at Puducherry, India, type locality.
Original description: Caranx vari Cuvier, 1833 - Type locality: Puducherry, India.
Distribution
Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa and Persian Gulf east to Philippines and New Ireland (Papua New Guinea), north to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), south to Western Australia, Queensland (Australia), New Caledonia and Solomon Islands.
Biology
Adults are common in shallow coastal waters where it often swims near the surface. They form dense schools on clear inner reefs, swimming high above substrate. They feed chiefly on shrimps, copepods, decapods and small fishes. Taken in commercial hook and line fisheries.
Similar species
Alepes djedaba (Fabricius, 1775) - Reported from Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), East Africa, Persian Gulf, Socotra (Yemen) and Madagascar east to Hawaiian Islands (U.S.A.), north to southern Japan, south to northern Australia; eastern Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Marmara (Red Sea immigrant).
Sélar harengule, Blackfin scad, Deep-bodied crevalle, Duskyfin crevalle, Herring scad, Trevally scad, Jurel arenque, Mabutashima-aji, マブタシマアジ, 大尾鰺, 范氏副叶鲹, نيزكة مُرَنكة, Cá Khế,
Synonymes
Alepes glabra (Fowler, 1904)
Alepes macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
Carangoides milnensis (Whitley, 1949)
Caranx macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
Caranx vari (Cuvier, 1833)
Selar kuhlii (Bleeker, 1851)
Selar macrurus (Bleeker, 1851)
------------------------
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 23-27 (usually: 25); Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 20-23 (usually: 22); Pectoral fin rays: 19; Gill rakers: 9-12 + 23-27 = 32-38 (usually: 11-25); Vertebrae: 24. Lateral line strongly arched anteriorally with the junction of the curved and straight sections located the origin of second dorsal to the third soft ray. The curved section contains: 42-50 (usually: 44) scales and 0-2 scutes, while the straight section has: 0-7 scales and 48-69 (usually: 52) scutes. Body profile strongly compressed, ovate body. The ventral and dorsal profiles of the fish are almost evenly convex, joined anteriorally by a pointed snout. There is a well-developed adipose eyelid on the posterior half of the eye. The jaws hold a single row of numerous comb like teeth. Max. length: 56.0 cm TL, common length: 30.0 cm TL. Depth range: 0 - 10 m.
Color
The species is an ash blue above, fading to a silvery white below, with a diffuse dusky blotch on margin of operculum. The fins are dusky with the exception of the spinous dorsal fin which is pale to dark dusky. The amount of dark pigment in the fins is sexually dimorphic, with males developing darker spinous dorsal fin, lobes of soft dorsal and anal fins, and pelvic fins than females.
Etymology
Alepes: from Greek prefix, a-, an- = not, without, (having) no + from Greek, lepis = scale, flake, shell, husk. Referring to Alepes melanoptera, “entirely destitute of scales, except those on the hinder part of the lateral line adjoining the caudal fin”.
vari: from vari-paré, local name for this species at Puducherry, India, type locality.
Original description: Caranx vari Cuvier, 1833 - Type locality: Puducherry, India.
Distribution
Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa and Persian Gulf east to Philippines and New Ireland (Papua New Guinea), north to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), south to Western Australia, Queensland (Australia), New Caledonia and Solomon Islands.
Biology
Adults are common in shallow coastal waters where it often swims near the surface. They form dense schools on clear inner reefs, swimming high above substrate. They feed chiefly on shrimps, copepods, decapods and small fishes. Taken in commercial hook and line fisheries.
Similar species
Alepes djedaba (Fabricius, 1775) - Reported from Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), East Africa, Persian Gulf, Socotra (Yemen) and Madagascar east to Hawaiian Islands (U.S.A.), north to southern Japan, south to northern Australia; eastern Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Marmara (Red Sea immigrant).
Pseudocaranx dentex (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here).
Pseudocaranx georgianus (Cuvier, 1833) - Reported from Southeastern Indian Ocean, southwestern Pacific: Perth (Western Australia) and Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) southward, south to northern Tasmania (Australia); New Zealand.
Pseudocaranx wrighti (Whitley, 1931) - Reported from Southeastern Indian Ocean, southwestern Pacific: Monte Bello Islands (Western Australia) southward, east to Cape Everard (eastern Victoria, Australia).
Last update: 1, March 2023
Pseudocaranx georgianus (Cuvier, 1833) - Reported from Southeastern Indian Ocean, southwestern Pacific: Perth (Western Australia) and Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) southward, south to northern Tasmania (Australia); New Zealand.
Pseudocaranx wrighti (Whitley, 1931) - Reported from Southeastern Indian Ocean, southwestern Pacific: Monte Bello Islands (Western Australia) southward, east to Cape Everard (eastern Victoria, Australia).
Last update: 1, March 2023